Canada's Response To Syrian Refugees

In Margaret Wente’s article, “Syrian refugees: the romance and the reality” (Oct 1, 2016), she argues that Canadians must stop looking at the refugee crisis through rose coloured glasses and realize that there is far more to helping those living through this crisis then simply taking them out of the battleground. Wente backs her argument using data and facts as well as personal anecdotes from those providing social assistant to those in need. She hopes to bring attention to the problems Canada is facing regarding immigration and realize that simply bringing Syrians to Canada isn’t enough. While people have left the warzone coming to Canada without the ability to speak the language or support themselves will put the same pressure

The refugee crisis that plagues the world is often referred to as the Syrian refugee crisis, and Western countries are usually concerned only for the affect it has on them and their country. Yet the countries taking in the most refugees are the relatively stable nations in the Middle East that are closest to those in crisis, like Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, not the wealthy nations most capable of supporting the refugees. These countries are often small and suffering their own economic and political woes, and struggle with the masses of refugees entering the countries. Various groups are working to raise money and support for these refugees, and other poor African and Middle Eastern countries are attempting to do their best, but without the help of the wealth West, the refugee crisis is not going to go away. A question has been posed to the nations of the world; are they willing to take in any of the millions of the desperate refugees?

Due to the many different attitudes and views on the Syrian Refugee crisis, and the opinions that vary by country, Canada should further explore their options when considering to accept more Refugees. While doing so Canada and the rest of the world should offer support in various ways. The Refugee crisis has been in the media for many months, and is the world's number one focus at the moment. Countries have different thoughts on the situation, and many believe that it does not concern them. The government of Canada needs to address the concerns that Canadians have regarding the resettlement of Syrians.

Has United States or Canada been more effective with implementing and abiding by refugee rules and laws? Before discussing and comparing which of these countries had been more successful, the historical context of refugees needs to be explored. Although refugees have existed throughout the course of history, the definitions of what a refuge is had shifted and evolved over time. The League of Nations in the 1920s defined refugees “by categories, specifically in relation to their country of origin.” Up until 1950s, the League of Nations, which later became the United Nations, “established and dismantled several international institutions devoted to refugees in Europe.” After World War II, creating and facilitating solutions for refugees were of high importance internationally. This is evident in the first session of United Nations General Assembly in 1946 when it adopted the principle that no refugee who had “expressed valid objections to returning to their countries [sic] of origin ... shall be compelled to return.”

The Canadian refugee plan that Trudeau had promised has been a controversial one. Would it really endanger Canadian citizens if 25,000 refugees are let into Canada. Most Canadians do not oppose trudeau’s plan, however more than 70% of Canadians think that his aim is too high. The current reality is that more than 25,000 Syrian refugees have already been brought into Canada. In fact as of April 3rd 2015 the number of Syrian refugees that have been brought into Canada since november 4th 2015 is 26,213. So the argument that 25,000 is too high isn’t valid right now, because more than 25,000 have already came in and most Canadians didn’t even notice. Although the Canadian public and government don’t have the same opinion on letting refugees in the

The devastating Syria civil war is one of the worst humanitarian crisis in society. This war caused half of Syria’s population to die or forced to flee to another country. Families are struggling to survive or live in neighboring countries. Certain people are risking their lives over a trip to Europe hoping to find acceptance and opportunity. Since winter is coming soon, refugees in settlements have less resources than ever before. They need adequate food, warm clothes, shoes, blankets, heaters and fuel. As you can see, Syria’s economy is completely shattered, yet some Syrians are repudiating Canada’s amazing, one-time offer to living a completely better condition? Omaymas al-Kasem is a brave, forthright

The commission recommended imposing a $10 duty on each Chinese person seeking entry into Canada. Furthermore, in this situation Canada did not have the most preeminent immigration history, as the Chinese workers had to pay for their own food, clothing, transportation to the job site, mail, and medical care, leaving barely enough money to send home, unlike their white co-workers. One of the many resilient moments in Canada’s immigration history had been the modern immigration from Syria to Canada. The Syrian immigrants had fled their country as a cause of a 5 year civil war, the country had corruption, lack of resources, and many disasters. Normally Canada accepts approximately 250,000 immigrants each year, in order to compromise to the current state of Syria, Canada has agreed to increase their yearly allowance of immigrants to accommodate more Syrian refugees. The effort made by Canada had been recognized internationally as a very helpful act, that will subsequently help many of those in need. Furthermore, in the past Canada had been the most welcoming to immigrants who came to populate the settlements around East, West, and central

Canada has always been recognized as an accepting and “go-to” country in crisis. However, in recent years, there have been changes. Refugee legislation has become extremely strict, qualifications for refugees have become unfair, and limitations regarding what Canada offers refugees have been set.

In 1962, many new regulations were created that removed most limits on who can and cannot come to Canada. Though Canada’s government preferred British and European immigrants because they could adapt easier, in 1967, Canada’s legislation became “colour-blind”- and did’t use the colour, ethnicity, or cultural background as factors to determine the immigrant’s status on becoming Canadian or not. Instead they used a point-system that was based on one’s education and employment prospects. For that reason, only certain amount of training for specific skills and tasks would have to take place for them. On the other hand, refugees were constantly coming to Canada- such as the 11,000 refugees that came in 1968 after the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia.

Between September 2015 and February 2016 Canadians had donated a total of $31.8 million to the Syrian emergency relief fund to support humanitarian relief efforts in response to the conflict that is happening in Syria the government of Canada with the help of peacekeeping forces and U.N has helped resettle 25000 Syrian refugees between November 2015 and February 29 2016.this has been a positive role for Canada because it shows that Canada is willing to help people who have been affected by war and that Canadians are willing to donate to help with humanitarian aid for Syrian

However, concurrent to those accepting declarations, claimsmaking activities by the Canadian government, especially by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews contributed to the social construction of a negative portrayal of the Tamil refugees, shaping their image as illegal migrants who are trying to take advantage of a generous nation like Canada. Declarations by Toews and other government spokesmen that the country’s laws will have to be stricter to prevent boatloads of desperate people fleeing persecution and poverty from seeking refuge in Canada constructed a public image that these Tamil refugees were illegitimate and thus not qualified to get support from Canada (Jones, 2010). They also repeatedly said that the boat’s voyage to Canada was likely organized by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with the aim of infiltrating terrorists into Canada and raising funds. These bold statements further guided the public to believe that the refugees were closely linked to terrorist organizations and that accepting them could become a national security predicament (CBC News, 2010). Government spokesmen continued to frame the arrival of refugees as a risk, a practice that was continually repeated and strengthened through media reporting.

On September of 2015, the image of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi went viral. “The toddler’s lifeless body on a Turkish beach had reverberated across the globe” (Parkinson & George-Cosh, 2015). Aylan’s family had “fled the brutal civil war in their native Syria and only attempted the boat crossing after Canada denied their application of admission as refugees. The image led to an astonishing outpouring of support for Syrian refugees” (Hein & Niazi, 2016).

The resettlement of Syrian refugees in Canada has been a heavily politicised issue since the last federal election. While the media spotlight has moved on, the integration of these refugees into the Canadian economy and society is an ongoing effort. Previous research on refugees resettled in Canada has found that proficiency in one of Canada’s official languages is one of the most important determining factors of a refugee’s ability to obtain employment and achieve higher levels of economic integration (Sherrell et al. 2005: 83). Historically, refugees resettled in Canada have frequently reported significant difficulties accessing appropriate language training services, especially in terms of the under capacity, underfunding, and lack of flexibility

The growing number of displaced persons arising out of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 has become a significant humanitarian crisis on a global scale, with several countries granting asylum to a number of those effected. On the 9th of September 2015, the Australian Government announced that it will make an extra 12,000 humanitarian places available in response to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, granting them a permanent visa. Australia has been largely criticised by the international community regarding its “special humanitarian" stream identifying those most appropriate for resettlement, but necessarily the most vulnerable people. The approach taken by the Australian Government, alongside the continued sharing of news articles portraying migrants as ‘rapists’ is demonstrative of this heightened sense of popular nationalism identified in contemporary society, stemming from fear tactics, as well as the an increased the sharing of information and opinion via new

Other countries such as the United States of America has welcomed refugees with open arms, with this they had an outbreak of refugee industries. They had employed 3000 workers, however, Canada was not welcoming to refugees especially the Jews, because they thought they had nothing to offer which was not true because many refugees brought work and new customers. In an editorial, The Globe and Mail, June 19, 1939, it states,